STARMER FAILS TO GRASP WHY BORIS IS A VOTE WINNER

■ With his blinkered view of the Tories, Ted from Liverpool (MetroTalk, Tue) has fallen into the same trap that caught out Keir Starmer. Going into an election campaign against Boris Johnson on a ticket of ‘I’m not Jeremy Corbyn and Boris is mired in sleaze’ was never going to be enough to beat him.

For despite Johnson’s many flaws, being a ‘donkey’ – as Ted puts it – is not one of them. People like him because he personifies the British spirit of aspiration, resilience and optimism that we are going to emerge from this dreadful pandemic with.

The Labour-supporting metropolitan elite don’t seem able to grasp that what Johnson offers is his Tory brand of socialism because it’s different. It’s not ‘vote for us because we can do all this for you by exercising control over everything’. It’s ‘vote for me and I’ll make sure we create the climate and give you the resources so you’re in control of your lives and have the freedom to drive our recovery’.

That’s what Ted and others will have seen in the Queen’s Speech. Whether he and anyone else believe it is another matter but at least it will be a positive message – and that’s what we need now. Chris, Maidstone

■ Starmer is realising how hard it is going to be to eject the hard left from his party. Moving them around in reshuffles does not get rid of the problem. Until he rids the party of them, he won’t be winning back any former Labour voters. Roger, Wolverhampton

■ Starmer is a fool. His party’s problems will remain until they agree with the reasoning of eurosceptics. Red, Ruislip

■ Scotland’s independence is very frustrating for me as an Englishman. The act of the union was pushed by the Scottish because they had bankrupted themselves trying to gain colonies in America. North Sea gas and oil appears to be the basis of the SNP’s financial planning. If the Scottish claim to all of it was accepted – which I doubt it would be – it would still leave a huge hole in the Scottish finances. Ironically, if the whole of the UK was to vote on it, I’m sure they would get independence easily. As a side note, it has been the Scottish voting SNP and not Labour that has lumbered the UK with Tory government after Tory government, which has led to Brexit. So cheers for that. Joe, London

■ I have a strong dislike of party politics. I wish we could find a viable alternative that elects people in or out of positions of power based on their own experience and talent, rather than a popularity parade. I’m sure smart Metro readers will have some smart ideas. It would make for an interesting debate. We have too many talented politicians going to waste outside government. And outside the shadow front bench, for that matter. David, Sidcup

■ If the SNP is successful in its quest for another Indyref, and should it succeed in winning it, would Scotland be a one-party state? What would happen to the Scottish Conservative and Labour parties? I for one will not be voting for independence – it is a pipe dream. I agree that Nicola Sturgeon has done a sterling job dealing with Covid but